Prior to the present invention, there have existed mechanical Christmas trees such as those illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,028,830 and 4,076,234 and 3,147,175 each of which have base-mounted catch basins of hemispherical or conically-concave shape mounted below the tree such that upwardly-blown snow falls therein for recycling; in these patents, propelled air is channeled solely upwardly through the central trunk, and the snow-like material is permitted to fall by gravitational pull downwardly to the catch basin.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,140 belonging to the present inventor, likewise discloses a mechanical Christmas tree blowing the snow-like material solely upwardly through the central hollow trunk, and exterior thereto solely the snow falling freely by gravitational pull; in that patent, pneumatically actuable ornaments (motors) were actuated by pressurized air supplied through also hollow branches. Also in that patent, an inverted downwardly facing cone small at the top and large laterally downwardly with the concave portion facing downwardly served as a flare deflector to thwart the upward flow or draft of air from the pump or fan.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,162 discloses typical pneumatically actuatable motors designed as ornaments for a Christmas tree, actuatable by being struck by exteriorly-circulated air.